The Angry Birds Movie
The Angry Birds Movie (also referred to as Angry Birds and released in the United Kingdom as such) is a 2016 computer-animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly in their directorial debuts and written by Jon Vitti. The film features the ensemble voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sean Penn, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Hader, and Peter Dinklage. The film was released in the United States and Canada on May 20, 2016. The film was a box office success, grossing over $352 million worldwide and becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time to be based on a video game, behind Warcraft and Detective Pikachu. A sequel was released on August 13, 2019, with Sony Pictures Animation taking involvement. The film had mixed reviews from critics who praised the animation and voice acting but criticized the screenplay. Plot A reclusive, temperamental outcast bird named Red lives in a village called Bird Island with other flightless birds who lead angerless lives. When his temper causes a "premature hatching" of another bird's egg, he is sentenced to attend an anger management class (the maximum penalty on the island). Red's classmates Chuck (who is hyperactive and can move at hypervelocity) and Bomb (who can cause explosions with his anger and fear) try to befriend him, but he avoids them. One day, a boat docks at the island's shore, damaging Red's house. The birds are greeted by green-colored pigs and their captain Leonard, who claim to be peaceful explorers bringing offerings of friendship. The pigs ingratiate themselves with the birds by introducing them to various innovations, notably a giant slingshot, but at a party, Red becomes suspicious and sneaks into Leonard's boat. When he returns to tell everyone, nobody isn't convinced. Wanting to seek help, Red recruits Chuck and Bomb to find Mighty Eagle, the only flying bird and the island's protector who has not been seen for many years. They find Mighty Eagle on top of Bird Mountain, but he is overweight, self-absorbed, leads the life of a slacker, has not flown in years, and refuses to help them. Red discovers the pigs planting dynamite around the island while the other birds, who probably haven't noticed the three are missing, are distracted with a rave party, but they arrive too late to sound a warning; the pigs escape with the eggs and activate the dynamite, destroying the village. The other birds apologize to Red for not believing him. Under his leadership, they organize an army and construct a boat from the rubble to follow the pigs to Piggy Island. The birds discover the pigs living in a walled city ruled by Leonard, whose true name is "King Leonard Mudbeard". Deducing the eggs are in the castle at the center of the city, the birds use the slingshot to attack by launching themselves over the walls and into the city's buildings, destroying them. Red, Chuck, and Bomb discover the eggs inside a net being lowered into a giant pot; the pigs are planning to cook and eat them. Mighty Eagle arrives to retrieve Red's group and the eggs, having had a change of heart after witnessing their efforts. One egg falls out of the net and Red battles King Mudbeard for it, but learns to control his anger and distracts him long enough to retrieve the egg. A candle King Mudbeard was holding ignites the pigs' reserve of dynamite, but the pot collapses, falls over, and lands on top of Red, shielding him and the egg from the blast as the city is destroyed. Red reunites with the other birds as the egg hatches, revealing three small blue birds. Mighty Eagle approaches Red, Chuck, and Bomb, claiming he merely appeared lazy so they could lose faith in him and find faith in themselves, and takes credit for saving the eggs. On Bird Island, Red discovers the other birds have repaired his house in the center of the village and the rest of the rescued eggs have hatched into chicks, who sing to him in gratitude. Moved, Red allows Chuck and Bomb to move in with him. The pigs are revealed to have survived, with King Mudbeard plotting a new plan. In a mid-credits scene, the three blue birds use the slingshot to launch themselves out towards the ocean. Cast *Jason Sudeikis as Red **Aidan McGraw and Kallan Holley as young Red *Josh Gad as Chuck *Danny McBride as Bomb *Maya Rudolph as Matilda, Poppy *Kate McKinnon as Stella, Eva *Sean Penn as Terence *Tony Hale as Ross, Mime, Cyrus *Keegan-Michael Key as Judge Peckinpah *Bill Hader as King Leonard Mudbeard *Peter Dinklage as Mighty Eagle *Blake Shelton as Earl *Anthony Padilla as Hal *Ian Hecox as Bubbles *Charli XCX as Willow *Tituss Burgess as Photog *Billy Eichner as Chef Pig, Phillip *Hannibal Buress as Edward *Ike Barinholtz as Tiny *Max Charles as Bobby *Jillian Bell as Helene, Yoga Instructor *Cristela Alonzo as Shirley *Danielle Brooks as Monica, Olive *Kevin Bigley as Greg *Adam Brown as Hug Trader *Romeo Santos as Early Bird *Geoffrey Arend as Day Care Teacher Bird *Ava Acres as Timothy *Alex Borstein as Sophie Bird, Peggy Bird *Malena Brewer as Arianna Bird *Vincent Oswald as Dylan Hatchling *Samantha Cohen as Samantha Hatchling *Josh Robert Thompson as Brad Bird, Dane the Saxophone Bird *Matt McCarthy as Rodney Pig and John Hamm (credited as Acrobat Pig) *Matt Taylor as Hamilton Pig and Oinky (credited as Acrobat Pig) *Mckenna Grace as Ella Bird *Ali Wong as Betty Bird *Fred Tatasciore as Monty Pig *Bella Laudiero as Maya Bird *John Cohen as Johnny Bird *Clay Kaytis as Clayton the Waiter Bird *Fergal Reilly as Foreman Pig *Catherine Winder as Billy the Sign *Carlos Alazraqui as Earl's 2nd Brother *Pierce Gagnon, Noah Schnapp and Owen Wilder Vaccaro as The Blues *Craig Berkley as Officer Bill Beakins *John Lasseter as Alex *Eileen Marra, Indra Raval, Joaquin Raval and Sofie Wolfe as Hatchling Singers Production The film was officially announced in December 2012, although IGN noted that this was "after months of speculation". The success of the Angry Birds Toons series, according to Rovio employee Jami Laes, "validated" the idea of creating a feature film. The first image from the film was revealed in October 2014, with Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, and Peter Dinklage as part of its cast. Gad at first declined to star in the movie, feeling it was too similar to his role as Olaf in the 2013 film Frozen but the director eventually convinced him to sign through a 30-minute "visual pitch". The film's budget is estimated at $80 million (€75 million). Rovio and Sony Pictures announced they would spend roughly €100 million for the marketing and distribution of the film, giving it the largest budget in the film industry in Finland, outvaluing Big Game's €8.5 million. Despite the massive budget, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed stated that "it is the one that I don't ever lose any sleep over", calling it "tremendously strong as a story". During August 2015, Rovio announced that they were expecting to cut 250 jobs equaling 40% of the company, the only sector spared being personnel working on the movie. When multiple major studios approached Rovio to discuss the production of the film adaptation in 2010, Hed eventually decided to have Rovio establish its own in-house animation studio and have it work on the film, rather than risk losing creative control in allowing a third-party studio to produce it. David Maisel, the founding chairman of Marvel Studios, offered to help Hed and Rovio produce the film, as well as John Cohen from Illumination Entertainment and Catherine Winder from Lucasfilm, who later served as the film's producers. Animation services were handled by Sony Pictures Imageworks, making it their first animated film not to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation since Beowulf (2007). The Angry Birds characters were not depicted in their anthropomorphized cinematic designs until the film's announcement so as to avoid spoiling it for audiences. Music The film's soundtrack, titled The Angry Birds Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released on May 6, 2016. ATCO Records released the score on May 12, 2016. "Wonderful Life" was replaced in international screenings of the film in English with "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees. Release The film was initially scheduled to be released on July 1, 2016, but was later moved forward to May 20. On September 23, 2015, the teaser trailer for the film was released, followed by the second trailer four months later. An international trailer made its debut in March 2016. The film was released in Finland and the UK on May 13, 2016, and in the United States and Canada on May 20, 2016. Promotion and tie-in games The film's marketing budget was an estimated $300 million, which along with its production budget was $400 million, the biggest ever for an animated Sony Pictures film. Tie-ins with McDonald's, Citroën, Ziploc, and Panasonic, and a series of six Lego sets were used to promote the film. A balloon themed after Red debuted at the 2015 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. During the film's marketing campaign, the app icons for most Angry Birds games were changed to depict the cinematic version of Red. A series of free-to-play tie-in games were also produced: Angry Birds Action!, Angry Birds Evolution, and Angry Birds Match. Home media The Angry Birds Movie was released on digital HD on July 29, 2016, and on Blu-ray, 4K/3D Blu-ray, and DVD on August 16, 2016 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, with four "Hatchlings" shorts included. The film topped the home video sales chart for the week ending on August 21, 2016. Reception Box office The Angry Birds Movie grossed $107.5 million in North America and $244.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $352.3 million. Worldwide, it is the second highest-grossing video game film of all-time behind Warcraft ($433.5 million), and is the most successful Finnish-produced film of all time. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $72 million. In North America, the film opened on May 20, 2016 alongside Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and The Nice Guys, and was projected to gross $35–40 million or as high as $45 million from 3,932 theaters in its opening weekend. Deadline noted that the film had the benefit of being the only animated movie in theaters until Finding Dory on June 17. The Angry Birds Movie was the top selling film for the weekend, and grossed $800,000 from Thursday night previews and $11 million on its opening day. In its opening weekend it grossed $38.2 million, finishing first at the box office and marked the third biggest Sony animated opening of all time, behind Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2. It also scored the second-best debut weekend ever for a video game adaptation, behind the $47 million debut of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. It dropped 51% in its second weekend, against X-Men: Apocalypse and Alice Through the Looking Glass, grossing $18.7 million. Internationally, The Angry Birds Movie was released in the Philippines on May 11 and in 74 other markets (63% of its total marketplace) on May 13, at least a week ahead of its US release. It finished first in 37 territories and second overall at the international box office behind Captain America: Civil War. Benefiting from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, it grossed $43 million. In its second weekend, it added 9 additional territories including China, South Korea and the Netherlands and grossed $55.5 million from 83 markets. Overall, the top openings for the film was recorded in China ($29.2 million), Russia ($5.7 million), the United Kingdom and Ireland ($3.1 million), Germany ($2.9 million), Mexico ($2.8 million) and Brazil ($2.7 million). It opened next in Italy on June 15 and Japan on October 1. In terms of total earnings, the biggest markets for the film outside North America are China ($75.8 million), the United Kingdom ($15 million), Russia ($11.99 million), and Germany ($11.97 million). Critical response The Angry Birds Movie received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 158 reviews and an average rating of 4.94/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The Angry Birds Movie is substantially more entertaining than any film adapted from an app has any right to be—which may or may not be much of an endorsement." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press gave the film a positive review by writing, "Ultimately, The Angry Birds Movie does a decent job exploring the merits of anger. It's no Inside Out, but it has heart and life, which isn't too shabby for any film—app or not". Variety's Guy Lodge called the film: "A fast, fizzy and frenetically entertaining extension of the manic gaming franchise that, at its zenith, had children of all ages glued to their smartphone screens". While Rafer Guzman of Newsday found the film's plot to be "pretty thin gruel", he thought the script was quite funny and that the animation was brightly colored and appealing. Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, writing, "The kids of today deserve better. So do I, come to think of it". In his review for TheWrap, Alonso Duralde wrote, "Let's be clear, then: The Angry Birds Movie isn't pointless because it's based on an app. It's pointless because it's pointless". Stephen Whitty of the New York Daily News gave the film one out of five stars, writing, "The Angry Birds Movie is just fowl". Accolades Coming soon! Future Follow-up media *IDW Publishing launched a comic book miniseries, titled Angry Birds: Flight School and situated after the events of the film, on February 22, 2017. *Rovio Entertainment has released a new online video miniseries that takes place sometime after the events of the film, titled Angry Birds Blues, and focuses on the mischievous antics of the newborn Blues. The first episode premiered on Toons.TV on March 10, 2017. *In the summer of 2017, GoComics announced that it will be running a comic strip series based on the world of The Angry Birds Movie, with each issue available to view on its website. The strip ran for over a year, from August 3, 2017 to September 20, 2018. Sequel In August 2016, Rovio had begun working on a sequel to the film. The sequel, titled The Angry Birds Movie 2, was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 2, 2019 and later on August 14 in the United States, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the original video game. It was directed by Thurop Van Orman and John Rice. Cohen returned as producer, with Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart as writers. Sudeikis, Gad, Hader, McBride, Dinklage, Rudolph, Hale, and Padilla returned to voice their roles, with Nicki Minaj, Rachel Bloom, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Zach Woods, Awkwafina, Lil Rel Howery, Dove Cameron, Beck Bennett, Brooklynn Prince and Leslie Jones joining the cast. Category:Films Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:2010s Category:2016 Category:Angry Birds Category:The Angry Birds Movie Category:Columbia Pictures animated films Category:Rovio Entertainment films Category:Rovio Animation films Category:PG-rated films Category:Films based on video games Category:Films about animals